#(anyway wish chon would give up on ton and go out with one of the many interested guys at school instead)

[cornflowershade]

*has a watchlist of show recs that I’ve been Meaning To Get To*

*starts watching the one series that I heard sucks*

[watchinglikeafangirl]

The problem with GMMTV shows

Many, many Thai BLs were published and lauched by GMMTV and some of these shows are probably the most popular BLs in the genre, although other ones like ITSAY also get a lot of attention these days. GMMTV definetly is a monopole when it comes to producing such content because they produce the most BLs per year. There's always a new fandom rising in the background and that's not necessarily a bad thing but everyone knows by now what to expect from a GMMTV show and these expectations are pretty low. At least my expectations have sunken to zero when it comes to acting and I'm already impressed if the kiss looks real or if they actually cry some tears. I know, crying is hard and I find it unfair they don't even try to change the script, so the actors won't have such a hard time. I think the worst crying I have seen so far would be Tine in 2gether when he thought Sarawat was in love with that girl. Left alone that his reason doesn't make sense storywise, his crying was aweful and I actually skipped this scene because I was cringing so much.

Anyway, back to my topic.

Honestly, I have to give GMMTV credit for their marketing office because the marketing and promotion of new shows is pretty good. They publish posters, drop a cute trailer and give us a shipping to wait for. Although the design of the posters is not good and the trailers don't match the show's actual story, we are willing to wait. The bad design doesn't leave our minds and we are curious what new low quality show will be published. GMMTV knows pretty well, we all make fun of the shows and don't find them good but watch them nevertheless. That's how they make their money.

I can't help but wonder if the actors sign binding contracts or not because every one of them has at least more than one GMMTV project going on. Mix for example is in atoats, a short movie and in futs. Earth was already seen in Kiss me again, then atoats and this short movie. I find this very suspicious.

Now, lets get to the low quality of all the GMMTV shows. They really mastered their strategy. First, they create a world only revolving around the main couple, so we get a lot of screentime and cute moments of them. Second, the character traits and backstories look interesting at first, catching our attention. Third, the characters are pretty flat, so everybody can somehow relate to them. Fourth, the world these characters live in is simple and the less we see of it the better, because then we can project ourselves into it. Fifth, create a plot that looks interesting from afar and then let it play out in the most passionless way but everybody watches anyway because they want to see the happy ending.

In all these BLs the dialogues, story and acting is not really on point. It is average, but they try to cover it up with jokes, sound effects and cliffhangers to make you believe you had a good time, so you go back the next week and watch the new epsiode.

Here three examples with which I'm gonna explain how the stories are created.

Fish upon the sky - the beginning

I only started watching this show because of the title. It contains a metaphor we don't know the meaning of but we sure know it has a nice vibe and probably a deeper meaning between the two main leads. It seems like a private thing only the these two understand. In general, this metaphor is kind of cute, I have to say. This whole "fish upon the sky" vs "star in the ocean" thing, they got me there. But the rest and the way it plays out is boring.

In the trailer, only these scenes with the metaphor and deep talks were cut together, so we thought this whole show would have that vibe and I still hope but after this 8th episode my expectations nearly vanished.

So, in the first two episodes, the characters are introduced alongside the problems and relationship they have. Thank God, Pi doesn't have friends, so he can have more screentime and not even more people have had to be casted, right? No, because friendgroups make more clear what kind of person the protagonist is, but okay, he interacts with his brother instead. Problem is, Duean is - how do I put this - aweful. He is terrible and only exists for the jokes. So, no deep conversation there. We get nothing from Pi. His character is build up and within the first two episodes we know his character completly because GMMTV characters are designed as simple as possible, so you won't have a hard time understanding them and their actions. You don't have to analyze to get them. This leads to inconsistency and plot holes later on.

During these two episodes, the most story happens apparently. So, we think as much will happen later on, but no, this is GMMTV. But since we're already invested because of the simple world and relatable characters, we don't stop watching every week.

Tonhon Chonlatee - the middle part

I guess this show is the perfect example of catching us with an okay story and then letting our hopes drop at an instant. This ending showed how you don't do it. But okay, we're not talking about the ending here. It's about the middle part.

This is the main problem with GMMTV shows. Nothing happens in the middle part and I guess Tonhon Chonlatee is the perfect example for that.

We know Chon has a crush on Ton since they were little kids and he gets super excited when Ton shows up again. Sadly, he turns out to be pretty homophobic. Okay, that is a conflict I can understand. But the thing is, the characters don't have another story apart from that. They don't grow. They don't change their mind. That just happens at the very end. Tonhon is introduced as homophobic and stays homophobic during the whole middle part. Not many moments take place and he doesn't seem to regret what he says against the LGBTQ-community. There's no confrontation to raise my excitement. The show goes on with no real input.

This is something all these shows suffer from. The middle part is very poor and they don't even try.

A tale of a thousand stars - the end

Okay, this example is based on my upopular opinion and wish for a bittersweet ending because I still believe this ending didn't fit.

This show wasn't as boring as the other two examples but it still wasn't great. After a boring middle part, we get a lot of drama until they finally get their happy ending. The problem with atoats was Tian suffering the whole time and without a detailed explaination why. Maybe I missed something but I think they could've gotten more into this idea with him living with another heart inside but instead they chose to give us a bunch of cuteness between Tian and Phupha and Tian and the kids.

In the end, Tian tells everyone that Torfun is dead and he cries a lot because Phupha totally overracts. There's a bunch of crying and I was sitting here still not getting it. Why is it such a bad thing he has her heart? Why is it such a burden? Still, the explaination in the middle part was missing. The inconsitency and plot holes I mentioned earlier are showing up and make the ending illogical, rushed and forced.

Outro

They just threw the drama away and came up with a solution to give them a happy ending to let us believe we had such a good time because we got what we wanted and what we've all been waiting for.

GMMTV knows we expect a happy ending and just hang on until we get it. That's why I went behind my back and continued futs even though I was extremly mad about the racism. Because I know, PiMork will have a happy ending and I'm curious hownit will play out. The middle part is awefully boring but I can't stop wondering. That's probably the essential part of GMMTV's strategy. They create boring shows which are compelling nevertheless.

Anyway, this is just my opinion on what I saw of GMMTV so far. Feel free to dicuss. Maybe someone of you has an answer to my questions about atoats...

[teamsarawatshusband]

Day 17 - Show that Let me Down

meh, so much catching up to do, sorry again. It’s been a stressful couple of days. Anyway, as promised on the 15th: The show that let me down is Tonhon Chonlatee.

And before I get into why, I would like to stress that, if you love this show and are a fan, please keep it up and please don’t misunderstand. I’m in no way suggesting that my personal point of view is the only correct one and that others should follow it. If you like something, then go ahead and enjoy it.

So.

The thing is, I actually had high hopes for this show, because it was it’s a comedy show, and I was really looking forward to that. Also, I knew Jan was going to be in it, and I love her, so I was extra excited about her as well.

Not to mention, I do like Khaotung a lot and was very happy for him to score a main role. And I do like Pod as well, even though he’ll always be Sun from SunMork to me, but I was willing to ignore that for this show.

Anyway... so the show started of nicely, with funny little references to other successful shows, you know, like...

*cough* not that I ever talk about that one *cough*

And, also the characters were just generally introduced very nicely. Like, Chon as the slightly awkward but charming shy guy who is just head over heals in love with Ton.

Also, I LOVED Chon’s mom. She was SUCH a great character. Funny, entertaining, but also massively supportive and serious when she had to be. She was so perfect.

All in all, the show had a great mix of funny comedic moments and serious heartfelt moments with messages of genuine life-lessons.

So, what could go wrong?

Well, everything.

It started with Ton taking his friends to a brothel, in order to “make Chon a man”. And, honestly, no matter how much of a comedy this is and how much they tried to spin it in a funny way, still. Fuck that message.

Not to mention, Miriam - I am so torn about her, because it was indeed a very interesting character for Jan to play, because she had man options to shine, especially with comedy and such. But, honestly, did they have to make her a prostitute? And then attempt to save her reputation my making her a prostitute on her first night on the job, i.e. still a virgin? Who then blackmails her clients to take her home and have her live with her and financially support her? It’s such a stupid back and forth of what’s supposedly morally acceptable... I just found it super annoying.

And then, the worst, Ton’s father. And, don’t get me wrong, I do understand that parents like that exist. Parents who feel the need to control everything about their children, including who they are and who they love. I know there are parents out there who feel like their children owe them grandchildren and if they don’t get them it’s the end of the world. BUT... the problem with Ton’s dad in this series is that this kind of parent is presented as a good parent, as one who loves his child, and one who deserves respect and obedience.

And that’s the thing that ruined everything to me. Controlling your child’s life to the point where you expect them to give up on who they really truly are, where you expect them to switch their sexual orientation according to your own wishes, where you expect them to produce grandchildren for YOUR benefit while they themselves haven’t even considered whether or not they want children... I’m sorry, if you control your child like that, you are being A BAD PARENT.

And I hate that the show missed the opportunity to point that out. 

But it got even worse. Since all that Ton’s dad wants is a grandchild, Miriam, who needs money, ends up offering to be a surrogate for Ton and Chon. And... that is presented as the perfect solution to everything.

And it was just so wrong. Ton and Chon were never even asked if they wanted to be parents. Miriam was told she shouldn’t sell her body as a prostitute, but apparently nobody has any problems with her selling her body to produce a child. That’s presented as morally fully acceptable and without any emotional repercussions to her or anybody else involved.

Please don’t get me wrong. I do believe that surrogacy is a great option for many people. However, you can’t deny that it does come with moral and ethical dilemmas and emotional side effects that can affect the future lives of everybody participating. And the show just played it off as a quick and easy solution to the we-need-a-grandchild problem which shouldn’t have been a priority in the first place.

Yeah, so they lost me there. Like, completely.

[konaizumi]

Tonhon Chonlatee ep 9 reaction/thoughts

- Ooo, pang, pulling the mom card, we stan a supportive friend who keeps her friend from doing stupid things

- pang is me the entire hug scene, it was so cute (also podd/ton looks like he gives the best, warmest hugs), also very happy to see na being genuinely excited for chon in this scene

- i’m so happy to see ton so willing to be open and public about their relationship, i think it really goes to show how much the homophobia was really repeated rhetoric from ton’s family and society an not necessarily his core beliefs

- amp getting trash thrown at her is what she deserves, go off on her ai!

- i dislike nueng bc he’s a rapist but i am really glad he called out amp like that and left her

- I can’t get over how cute and sweet ton is wtf

- ton keeps patting his head through the whole episode and I am here for it

- lol at chon watching 2gether

- i’m so glad the sister is accepting and cool about it, I hope this helps them next ep

- I, for a solid three seconds, when miriam got all shy and called her gorgeous, thought she was gonna hit on the sister and I was ready to support this 100%

- the cute little hand heart, ai being shy and hiding behind ni’s shoulder

- that’s right, ton, not good feelings left for that bitch

- also it’s cute that ton and baipai are close enough that ton can tell she had a fight bc she’s eating ice cream, i always love a good sibling relationship

- i’m just so glad chon has a backbone, even if he’s not the most confident or aggressive, he’s never let amp walk all over him in any of their interactions and it’s very refreshing, other bls need to take note

- on the other hand, chon, please have a bit more confidence in yourself, “even if i am a replacement, i don’t care, i just want to be next to ton,” sweetie, is that really something to brag about?

- however, “are you making fun of me?” “who else am i talking to?” was pretty great, petition for more sassy chon

- of all the sassy, mean, serious, or rude comebacks i thought ton was gonna say, “move, your in the way” is better than anything i could’ve come up with

- chon wiggling his shoulders when he said dancing shrimp

- very glad baipai and itt’s storyline did not end with itt being gay, the cat is adorable

- every time i start to take this show seriously, gmmtv loves to remind this show is just a crack video in disguise, what tf is this roleplay? (no complaints tho, i wish more shows wouldn’t take themselves so seriously)

- #getmiriamawife2021

- “it doesn’t mean ton doesn’t love me anymore” bitch yes it does!

- damn, just when i thought amp couldn’t get more homophobic

- props to ton for standing up for himself and his relationship

- i knew this was going to happen, yet i was still hoping somehow it wouldn’t, like I get why ton did it, he’s the kind of person who wont back down from dare if you call him chicken, but still, couldn’t he just not have?

- im not going to rag on chon (too much) for jumping to conclusions bc i will say i think they set it up well in a way that it’s believable for chon to assume things given 1) the video that pretty clearly shows ton kissing her freely, 2) his own insecurities and doubts regarding whether he’s just a substitute and whether ton actually likes him, a man -- so while i hate the faux cheating plotline, they at least set up better groundwork than some other shows

- ton ai and ni drunk singing is very cute

- miriam deserves everything, she really acts as an audience insert, we all wanted ton to get slapped (lowkey was hoping she would just deck him the face, but the slap was good too)

- ton riding the motorcycle while not entirely sober is giving me anxiety

- i fucking love chon’s mom so much, her relationship with chon has the same energy as pete’s dad from DBK in that not only does they know their sons are gay, but their comfortable talking and joking about and i love it

- I also like how she doesn’t just jump into overprotective mom mode and completely kick ton out or anything, like she really gives the sense of an adult who has gone through romantic struggles and can see that ton is sincere and didn’t mean to hurt chon

- how do you knock so much that your knuckles bleed that much

- you know what? chon said “you cheat, you’ll never see my face again” and my boy commits, I respect that

- the paper airplanes are pretty cute, very reminiscent of kornknock

- so, about the faux cheating plotline as a whole, i don’t like it, and i think the homophobic parents could’ve provided plenty of drama for two episodes with time left over for cute tonchon moments, but, i will say, this particular one isn’t bothering me as much as they usually do and i’m not entirely sure why? I think one part of it is ton is being pretty mature and responsible about it, admitting that he was in the wrong, telling chon’s mother that it’s “a bit of both,” not trying to push all the blame on amp. I think another part of it is that it’s going to resolve pretty quickly, they haven’t let this fester with a bunch of sad dramatic scenes of them making eye contact across campus, ton went after chon immediately and he’s not going to stop until he’s cleared everything up. And, as i said earlier, it didn’t feel like this was entirely out of nowhere or really unbelievable like faux cheating plotlines often feel like

- anyways, in conclusion, i actually really like this episode, i really love seeing ton just fully embracing being in a gay relationship and not taking shit from anyone about it, I’m excited for the final episode